Group dynamics and collaborative group performance

This work resulted from an investigation of the activities component of group dynamics in collaborative (or cooperative) groups for two undergraduate sections of computer architecture taught in spring 2002. A cooperative group is a special type of small group consisting of two to four persons. Collaborative learning as used here is a central component of the author devised integrative cooperative learning teaching technique. The hypothesis for this study is that the greater a student's level of within group course related activities for the imposed course assignments, the higher the student's relative course outcomes. To examine this hypothesis, an analysis of the relationship between a student's group activity and course outcomes was done. The sources of data were the student coordinator assessments and student journals compiled throughout the semester. The results of the analyses of the 63 students in the two sections of the undergraduate computer architecture course substantiated the hypothesis that the more a student participates in out-of-class collaborative academic group activity, the greater the student's achievement.

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